 Reverse Mortgages Last night I was watching TV and Henry Winkler came on talking about reverse mortgages. My first thought was, wow, the Fonz is doing commercials, how bizarre. But my second thought was more foreboding and that was if something is being pitched as a sound financial strategy late at night on cable, well then things may not be what they seem. So what exactly is a reverse mortgage? In a nutshell, it's a specific type of home equity loan available only to people aged 62 and over, which has the added benefit of not carrying any interest payments and is only due upon death or once the homeowner is no longer using it as a primary residence. As you can see, this might be viewed as an attractive cash flow option for older Americans who didn't save for retirement. That could be a lot of people, considering that Fidelity estimates 48% of baby boomers have not put away enough to retire. While I have covered the various ways in which Americans are scraping by in the current feudal economy, from food stamps and disability fraud, to student loans and living in mom and pop's basement, this reverse mortgage thing is a piece of the puzzle I have been missing. These mortgages are not insignificant either. According to Inside Mortgage Finance, originations were up 20% in 2013, hitting $15.3 billion. So when you see that older guy working the cashier at Wal-Mart and wonder to yourself how he is surviving, the answer may increasingly be a reverse mortgage. Oh, and since the FHA is originating many of these loans, you the taxpayer will be on the hook. But don't worry the Fonz says it's cool so all should be fine. Read Past Issues of Larry's Newsletters at TradeWithLarry.com  STOCKS: Watch List With the markets setting yet another all time high, the short term momentum is to the upside....or is it? As the DJI made new all time highs, this time the markets retraced back and struggled to recover. While a late day rally did take place, it was not enough to bring the major averages into positive territory. The Nasdaq got hit the hardest, as stocks like TSLA, AMZN, and FB got hit pretty hard for the session. In fact most stocks that have recovered off recent lows, shrunk back quite a bit.................Read More FUTURES | Technical Data |  | | ES | 1884.00/1878.50 | | POC | 1881.25 | | YM | 16506/16470 | | NQ | 3656.50/3620.25 | OPTIONS: Volatility Commentary There is a difference between exact and precise. Do not confuse being exact with expecting precision. Let's take a few examples. Let me preface this by saying I love my wife, Kate, very much. She is very exact about many things. "I will be there in two minutes" or "It's just around the corner". To me, telling someone that you will arrive in two minutes means that in 120 seconds (or so) I will physically see you. Right around the corner means that if I go straight and then make one turn, I should arrive at my destination................. Read More
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